Julia Adler MBACPCounselling for individual and couples

Testimonials

Dear Julia

Thank you so much for working with me this year and enabling me to grow and spread my wings. I feel much more equipped to deal with the issues life throws up from time to time, and my relationships with friends, partner and family.

You have showed me how to be ok with myself and who I am, that I am a worthy and lovely person who deserves to be valued and loved. I feel so much better in myself and much more confident. You have given me the tools to manage the difficult times, and helped me identify and manage the triggers within me. I feel sooo much more capable and confident in myself so that even when I feel I get it "wrong" I won't be beating myself up anymore.

I thoroughly recommend your techniques, your approach to counselling/therapy and I only wish that everyone could have a taste of the "Julia treatment". We have had some laughs along the way and I've thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with you. Thank you.

H.L. Buckinghamshire

Julia has been instrumental in helping me conquer my 30 year battle with my attitude to food. Previously resigned to spending the next 30 years with a chronic 'eating disorder', I have been amazed at how she has helped me see food and nutrition in a totally different light. It's not a miracle cure but my work with Julia has definitely moved me forward to a point where I now enjoy cooking and eating and understand the value and benefit of food. She has helped me understand the triggers for such a disorder and given me the confidence to recognise them and avoid or even eliminate them, before they take effect. I am so much happier now and am certain this will be a long term attitude, for which I'm hugely grateful to Julia.

J.P. Buckinghamshire

It’s been tough putting this testimonial together – how do I boil down into a readable passage the feeling of enormous strength, absolute security and self-compassion that I have acquired since working with the loving and powerful force that is Julia? I’ve been working with Julia for almost a year. I have seen other counsellors in the past – one that I thought was incredible – yet Julia works at a level beyond that and more. She has amassed an exciting range of knowledge that puts her securely in the place of a warm, living, therapy based encyclopaedia!

I’d be willing to put myself forward as a complex case. I’ve suffered abuse in a variety of forms both in childhood, adolescence and my adult life. Neglect and homelessness have brought deep despair but also great joy and happiness. As a single mother, counselling has not just been about improving my life, but making my children’s lives better through the way that I interact with them.

I never opened up fully with my previous counsellors, so terrified I was of sharing my deepest, darkest secrets lest it lit the mountains of guilt and shame I held deep within myself. I knew quickly that Julia was different. I had at last found someone I could trust. That this is important to me is an understatement. If we can’t trust our counsellor with information that we feel is damaging – to whom do we turn? With Julia’s expert help, I have been able to face up to my past and my present. She has used a variety of techniques through which we have felt my memories and thoughts piece by piece and questioned the belief that I have held about myself. As a result I now believe in myself and the choices that I made and make.

In my day-to-day life I now approach small or large situations slower and gentler (less frantic), more peacefully. The trust I have in Julia is immense. I think she is a brave woman, the work she does with people’s hearts and minds is truly life-changing for those lucky enough to receive it.

I’ve reached a place now where for the first time I am able to cope without a partner. I’ve gone from relationship to relationship – overwhelmed and stuck in a fear that I couldn’t explain I’d reach out for the first person (and not the right one) who was there to give me some support. I now deal with these overwhelming feelings in a completely different way. I understand where they come from now and so they are not scary anymore. A weight has been lifted from me and I look forward to a time where after more work with Julia, I will feel ready to invite the right partner into my life.

Julia and I work as a team, quite often bouncing ideas off each other and this is fun! I feel fully supported whilst completely pro-active. It feels as though we are shaping a great gift – my life – and I thank Julia from the bottom of my utterly full heart for all the work we have done together, and for the ways in which she has challenged me and urged me to reach for more.

There is much more I could say – but then this reference would be too long

K.C. Buckinghamshire

A good friend of mine recommended Julia to me last year when I was going through a tough time. I had tried counselling in the past and it had never worked for me so I frankly had doubts it would be different this time – but I was willing to give it one more try.

Even after our first brief chat on the phone I was a lot less reluctant to go: There was something very special about the way that Julia talked to me and I figured we would get on just fine.

It doesn’t feel like she is just doing her job or she is desperately trying to psycho-analyse every word you say; talking to Julia almost feels like just a normal conversation with a very warm, empathic and extremely helpful friend over a cup of tea. I felt at ease with Julia from day one and she helped me make sense of some very deep rooted issues and behaviours that I had never viewed in that way. She helped me understand why I would feel a certain way in a certain situation by linking my past and family dynamics with my present life – things that now seem so obvious to me but that were impossible for me to understand by myself. I now feel in a much better place to absorb life’s ups and downs simply because I can understand what is causing these mood swings, and I know that if things get too much for me to handle again, I know where to find help.

W. A. Kensington W8

I have been working with Julia for 7 months and I will strongly recommend her. Her warmth, empathy, strong intuitive intelligence combined with advanced therapist techniques have significantly changed my life. When I met Julia, I was very vulnerable with a lot of insecurity, non resolved childhood issues and coming out of a very difficult relationship. During those 7 months with Julia, I built a huge amount of inner strength and self confidence and developed tools to cope with the ups and downs of the every day life. I have managed to dramatically transformed my relationship with my family and to free up myself from a disruptive relationship. Today I believe in myself and envisage the future very differently. I am very grateful to have met Julia.

G.J., London.

I have been working with Julia now for almost 3 years. She was first recommended to me by a friend and we have been polishing my life ever since. I first sought therapy because certain events and feelings in my life became overwhelming and I started to feel out of control. Regular sessions helped me to regain a sense of self and confidence that I had somehow lost along the way.
Probably one of the greatest things I have learned during my work with Julia is that I am not alone. My thoughts are ‘normal’, my feelings are ‘normal’. This has been huge for me because I can be very critical of myself, with high expectations of others as well. Coming to terms with the fact that I am human, that we all are human, has allowed me to view my life and those in it with a completely new perspective of patience, acceptance and love. I have been able to forgive and connect with certain people in my life that I thought I would never be able to ‘start again’ with. Through our work, Julia has helped me to go back and see things differently. I’ve learned that nothing is black and white – it only appears to be through our perceptions. If we can change the way we see things, we can change certain complexes, resolve misunderstandings and open ourselves to a calm and understanding that may have not been there before.
While I know all of the above to be true, and have experienced breakthroughs on more than one occasion, I also know that it takes daily work and practice with yourself and others to see the benefits. It is hard to be honest, but extremely liberating. I am truly thankful for all of our work together. I am a completely different person, and the benefits show.

L. K.,London

I have been working with Julia for the past four years and with out her support and guidance I would not be the person I like today. She has given me the tools to grow and develop into a well adjusted and authentic person who has the complete belief in herself to achieve goals set to becoming the adult I want and feel I need to be. With Julia's help I have over come some very difficult times I don't think I would of successfully otherwise, as I do not have an emotionally mature adult in my life for guidance and support. I feel that the transformation in my life has been down to Julia and her kindness and her teaching me acceptance and being kind to myself. There seems to be an overwhelming choice of therapists in London and I feel very lucky and blessed that I came across Julia! Completely and utterly recommended to help you on your journey to feeling fixed! She is patient and always has encouraging words. I don't dread our sessions as I feel uplifted when I leave, which sounds strange after a therapy session, but I really do, it is like a good spring clean of the soul and I feel my mind is organised and motivated to get where I need to be!

M.L.,Buckinghamshire

I contacted Julia in October 2011 during a very turbulent and toxic time in my marriage. Having seen several counsellors in the past with mediocre results and at great expense, I immediately felt with Julia that she had the right tools to guide me through what was to be a very fragile and sometimes painful journey of self-analysis and evaluation. Over the next 18 months and through weekly, and sometimes twice-weekly sessions, Julia helped me to find clarity in my personal situations to achieve a more balanced and healthy approach to my private and working life. Throughout the process I always felt expertly managed, and Julia's versatile use of conventional and more spiritual based therapy techniques was enlightening and incredibly productive for getting to the core of my issues and healing them. I am a much stronger and more self-loving person than I was when I first stepped through her door and I feel a huge comfort to know that she is there for me if and when I need her again.

G.F., Buckinghamshire

I have had various periods in my life from the age of 18 onwards when I have turned to therapy to help me untangle my feelings and understand my emotions. These rather painful periods were a result of a dysfunctional childhood that left me ill-equipped to deal with change and very fearful of failure. Over the years I have experienced Gestalt therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy among others - although I never really understood the difference. In my late thirties I was recommended by a friend to see Julia about a difficult relationship I was in. Julia was wonderfully helpful - insightful, intelligent and most importantly compassionate. She has an empathy and a perspicuity that my experience tells me is rare in a therapist - and for me makes all the difference when it comes to trusting a therapist's insight. She does not seem to use any specific "school" of therapy but instead just connects amazingly effectively to what you are saying. She gets the picture so quickly that you can move on to dealing with the "real" issues without endless "getting to know you" sessions. I have recommended four friends facing significant marital problems to her over the years and all of them have described her as brilliant. She has made enormous differences to their lives.

I feel safer knowing that there is a place for me to go for excellent psychological help should I ever find myself in a dark place again. I cannot recommend Julia highly enough.

S.R., South West London

Julia and I worked together off and on for three years during which time my understanding of my own behaviour grew enormously as did my ability to manage my problems and emotions. The process is challenging but Julia and I truly connected and managed to bring humour into our sessions which helped me to cope with the issues that came up and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. I would and have recommended Julia to my friends who are experiencing obstacles to their own personal happiness, she is a warm and caring person who can convey ideas and suggestions in a clear and helpful manner.

P.W., South West London

Counsellors and psycho therapists were just not in my business or personal vocabulary. I didn't feel the need for anyone until a client confided in me of her personal experience. Julia had changed her life completely by enabling her to manage a personal relationship on equal terms.

Julia has helped me and many of my friends to understand ourselves better and to alleviate our irrational fears and emotions, many of which we were not aware.

She is as the saying goes my fourth emergency service. I may see her for a several of weeks or once every year or two. She is always there for me in a role nobody has ever been able to fulfil.

S. A. South West London

I have been a client of Julia's for around nine months. In this time I have managed to feel more in control of my addiction than ever and this is in part thanks to her. Julia is a very knowledgeable person and easy to talk to. I feel her depth of experience and openness to relate on a personal level is a potent combination in helping clients with their issues. Julia has now developed a capability in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which is my preferred modality and I think will be of huge benefit to others.

B.D., Buckinghamshire.

I consider myself very fortunate to have come to work with Julia. Julia has an incredible energy which she injects into every session. Her sessions are inspiring and uplifting whilst being compassionate and insightful. With Julia’s guidance I have been able to grow & move my life in a positive direction. I love my sessions with Julia. I always leave with renewed energy and feeling inspired.

R.D, South West London

It is easy to think of therapy as a bit of an indulgence, a cost one can do without, something only others have time for. One is also afraid of the "touchy feely" therapist of caricature, offering no substance. Julia proved those notions to be entirely false. She was recommended to me very highly a few months ago and I now see why. She has an intelligent and flexible approach, and has helped me more than I can say. Julia, as well as very quickly "reading" and understanding my situation and behaviour, offered illuminating insights and gave me practical solutions. It is immensely relieving to be given hope and calm where before there was difficulty and despair.

L.P.,London

I first met Julia at a very low point in my personal life. On the outside I was just about carrying on as usual but internally I was deeply angry and disappointed with my closest relationships and the direction of my life. Worst of all I couldn’t work out why all my significant relationships were heading in the same awful direction and why my life had no sense of joy or purpose. I was at my breaking point.

I have now worked with Julia for nearly 4 months. Some of the sessions have been tough but I wish I had started much earlier. Therapy with Julia has been a revelation to me and it has helped me to begin to understand my feelings and reactions and how I can positively improve my own life.

In my sessions I have always found Julia to be a highly effective and professional with incredible empathy and insight. I cannot recommend Julia enough.